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Enterprise by Acer, Ltd.

9th September 1909
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Page 18, 9th September 1909 — Enterprise by Acer, Ltd.
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A Useful Apparatus for the Testing Shop, and a New Rail-motor Car.

One of the very enterprising young concerns in the motor industry is Acer, Ltd., of Grosvenor Road, Hanwell, AV., which company does a considerable business in the manufacture of spare parts for the trade, in addition to the effecting of repairs that are too big for the average garage proprietor to undertake. Its manager, Mr. A. E. S. Craig, M.I.A.E., is a man of exceptional ingenuity, and difficult problems present themselves only for him to find an easy solution. One of his latest inventions is the " Acer Tester," by means of which the longdisputed question as to what horsepower an engine actually transmits when in position on a chassis may be answered for any particular case, without necessitating the removal of the engine from the frame. This device may be used both for engines on

the test bench, or when in position on a chassis, provided that a small portion of the rim of the flywheel be exposed. The operation of the device is very simple, and does not involve any calculation_ the tester is placed under the flywheel of the motor which is being tested, in much the same manner as is shown in one of our illustrations, and, after being packed up so that the cork blocks are in contact with the rim, pressure may be applied by means of a " tommy " bar.

The cork blocks are fixed to a frame, to which chains are attached ; these chains pass over guide rollers, and are connected to a calibrated helical spring which is anchored to the frame of the instrument. As the frame and the cork blocks are dragged, by contact with the flywheel, angular movement is given to a small drum on which a chart is affixed. The angular movement of the drum is, of course, determined by the magnitude of the pull exerted as a result of the frictional contact of the cork blocks with the rim of the flywheel.

The peripheral speed of the flywheel is indicated by means of a device that is attached to the main frame of the machine by two swinging arms, and is so arranged that the rim of a small friction wheel rises between the cork pads, and is pressed into frictional contact with the rotating flywheel. The mechanism of this indicator is very simple and works on the well known inclined-disc principle! the disc is held, normally, at an angle of 45 degrees from the axis of rotation by a spring, but, as the speed of rotation of the spindle is increased, the angle of the disc is proportionately increased until a maximum of 90 degrees is obtained. The speed indicator causes a pointer, to which a pencil is attached, to travel across the chart. The diameter of the flywheel does not thus affect the reading; its peripheral speed, and the actual pull at the periphery are both recorded on the chart.

Although the machine has but recently been put on the market, orders are already in hand for purchasers in Brazil, Norway, New Zealand, and many other parts of the world. Mr. Craig has taken out patents in the United States, Germany and France, and we believe he is prepared to dispose of his foreign rights or to grant lic ences for their manufacture.

When at the Acer works recently, our representative examined a rail motorcar which was then being constructed for use on the Government Railway on the West Coast of Africa. It is driven by means of a two-cylinder 12 h.p. engine with double ignition. and the special feature about the machine is that a simple friction-disc drive has been adopted. The final drive is by means of a roller chain. One of the discs, which slides on a transverse shaft, is controlled, and may be moved sideways, by means of a lever on the steering column. Com

pressed tarred papr is the material of which the periphery of the sliding disc is made up.

The ear can be run in either direction with equal facility and speed, and it is estimated that a maximum of 40 miles an hour may be obtained. The seating arrangements are rather novel, and the back rests may he swung round so as to suit either direction of running ; the upper seats, which are very comfortably finished, are intended for officials, whereas the lower ones, of slatted wood, are for the use of natives. Altogether, 15 passengers may be carried on the machiue, an illustration of which is given on the preceding page.

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